Tag Archives: nanowrimo

Liliy is an Author #5

And another week has come and gone~ And I’ve got a bit of progress! I’ve also decided to start listing my goals once in a while to see if I meet them. This is the fun part about blogging, I think. Tallying progress! :D

NaNoWriMo/Nonnative Ice

It’s done. I won (just barely passing 50,000) and we shall now forget about it. :D

Children of Hephaestus

Editing should go much more quickly now that NaNoWriMo is out of the way. I’ve currently completed five chapters with hand editing, and wrote two new scenes to help establish some characters earlier in the story.

Goals:

  • Have the draft edited and back to my editor by January 1st.
  • Figure out what I’m doing for the cover (Going back to scratch and design it again or hire someone–I can’t make up my mind.)
  • Release final novel in late spring (April/May 2012)

Children of Hephaestus 2: Jupiter

Moving along smoothly with the sequel as well. I think I’m at about 15,000 words give or take. My current goal is to get the bulk of it written, so I can finally work in the ten or so disconnected scenes that don’t currently have a snug little home in the manuscript.

Goals:

  • Have first draft finished by the time Children of Hephaestus is released.

The Candlemaker’s Merman

This is coming along nicely, too. It’s a much lighter story than most of my other works, and has a much more friendship/fantasy basis. And it’s funny. I should add that in. I forgot how much fun it was to write humorous situations.

The end goal for this is a series of connected novellas. The first book is currently a little over 9,000 words and I can see it ending happily at around 30k to 40k.

You might still have to wait a bit to see it though, as I want at least three books to be finished (but not necessarily edited) before I start to release them. This is one time where having a buffer would do me some good. *thumbs up*

Goals:

  • Finish the first book by February and start on the second.
  • Finish three books by the end of 2012.
  • Have at least the first book published by the end of 2012.

Author Blog

R.L. Stine’s Twitter When I was younger, I was addicted to Goosebumps (like every other kid my age). I ate these books up. Recently, someone pointed me to R.L. Stine’s Twitter feed and the rest was history. The man’s hilarious and definitely worth the follow.

Yeah, this isn’t really writing advice–but it’s fun and author related. Plus, if this isn’t proof that the books you loved as a kid stick with you, I don’t know what is.

Liliy is an Author #4

“I’m having a Me Party~ A party just by myself~ A Me Party~ I don’t need nobody else~ I’m having a Me Party~ I’m the first and last to show~” *sings along to Me Party from the Muppets 2011 Soundtrack* Can you tell I’m obsessing over the Muppets lately? Because I am. :D

But that’s Fangirlin’ leaking over. You all want the writing scoop for the week. *puts hands on waist, cocks hip and winks*

Room of Maggots

You’ve probably seen me mention this on Twitter, or saw it on DA. If not — I’m letting you know again! It’s the first short story I’ve posted in…a long time, and I’m pretty happy with it. To copy my description from the DeviantArt Page:

Room of Maggots by Grey Liliy. A Horror Short Story, Approx. 5000 words. Self-Edited.

Rosie goes to the cellar to retrieve a glass of wine for her husband’s dinner party, but finds herself trapped in the dark with a dead body when the door vanishes. With only a single light, and the smell of rotting flesh assaulting her senses–how is she to get out?
—
This is the product of forcing myself to write something in the first person.

I do not like the First Person point of view–in fact, I can rather say that I despise it. I barely tolerate reading it (though I will force myself if the subject appeals enough), and I can’t stand writing in it.

However, I wanted to challenge myself–so I sat down and forced myself to write something in first person. A year or so later, I finally forced myself to edit the work and make it presentable enough to share.

If you need a true example of my disgust for this particular point of view, consider this: I forced myself to write in first person, and what came of it is a room full of maggots.

So far the response has been good–for what I was going for. At least one person who read it said they were glad they hadn’t eaten beforehand. So, I guess that means goal accomplished. *thumbs up* Also, it confirmed that I probably needed the 16+ age warning. I don’t think it’s particularly bad myself (I’m seeing 13+), but best to play it safe with these things.

You can read Room of Maggots on Deviantart if you have an account, or over on Broken Pocket. :D

NaNoWriMo/Nonnative Ice

48k – only 2k to go and I’m done with this thing. How have I gotten the word count as high as it is? By rewriting scenes. My dislike of the story, and the total mess of the plot line, have made coming up with new material more difficult than I’d like to admit.  As such, I’ve been looking at stuff I’ve already written and tried to turn it into something at least bearable. It’s amazing how high your word count goes when you take a scene that was 200 words and expand it to 500-600 words–rinse and repeat. I was hitting 2k a day just from that. *thumbs up*

If you’re curious how that works, when I’m not sure/don’t like what I’m writing, my scenes end up bare-bones action and dialogue. So what was originally:

“How are you feeling?” Ida said.

Olivier shrugged, “Been better.”

will turn into:

     “How are you feeling?” Ida said, voice unsure of herself. She gripped the front of her skirt, tightly. Olivier hadn’t looked at her in over ten minutes. He just kept staring at the wallpaper print on the wall.

     Olivier shrugged, vaguely aware that Ida had been talking to him. She prodded his shoulder with a finger, letting the words finally sink into his skull. Olivier answered reluctantly, “Been better.”

If you’re curious, I went from 10 words to 69. This adds up really quickly. :D

The Candlemaker’s Merman

My beta reader, unnamed until I know it’s okay to say the name, is awesome. Beta’s already read the 6k or so words I had written, which means I have…nothing more to send. But Beta feedback is quite useful, so I have some guidance on what questions still need to be answered in the future. :D

Children of Hephaestus

I edited…three pages. :D Reading aloud takes forever. Though, I think it’s because I’m catching all the things I missed before and having to stop every sentence to make a mark or two–that tends to slow the process.

At this rate, I don’t think my editor is going to recognize the book–in a good way.

Author Tool

One Page Per Day This is actually what I used to write the first draft of Room of Maggots last year. I’ve given up on it since I got Scrivener (<3), but I still think it’s a nice tool. The basic premise is you can only write–get this–one page at a time. :D

You can write more than one a day, but you still have to manually add the next page. At the time I was using it, I made sure to write one page a day, as suggested, and it worked out pretty well. Try it out if you’ve got the time. :)

Liliy is an Author #3

How is everyone’s NaNoWriMo going this week? We’re getting close to the bend and hitting that 50k! On that note…

NaNoWriMo/Nonnative Ice

It is very possible this novel may never see the light of day outside of my computer. I’m starting to develop a hatred for the thing. Getting my word count in this month has been downright excruciating. To get to 38k today, it took quite a bit of word padding and shameless repetition of themes (I’m also certain half of what’s written are just the characters voicing out loud the plot problems and story issues that I myself am noticing).

But! Whatever gets those words down, right? *chuckles into the wind*

Not all is lost, though, thanks to:

The Candlemaker’s Merman

I was shopping in BJ’s with my mother on Sunday night, when a story slammed into my head like a freight train. Not joking–that’s what it felt like. However, I had no paper, no proper way to type it out and a good two more hours of groceries. So, while picking up macaroni and cheese and fresh fruit, I plotted in my head. Constantly. I’m fairly certain I was writing in my head while people tried to have a conversation with me, but I could not let myself forget it.

The moment I got home, all 3000 or so words poured out onto the screen and I loved it. I’m really excited about this one. I’m talking CoH is almost completely done excitement. If things work out, this should be the first part in a series of novellas about a candlemaker and the merman he rescues from a fishery.

The only downfall about being excited about a new work, is it has distracted me from the other two…

Children of Hephaestus (1&2)

Children of Hephaestus got no love from me this past week. When I wasn’t ripping my hair out with this year’s NaNo, or falling in love with a candlemaker and a merman–I was playing Skyrim (I’m horrible at this game and yet I can’t seem to stop playing once I start…how does that work!?).

Editing and writing took a hit, I won’t deny it. :D

Author Blog

J.A. Konrath You’ve probably heard of this guy already (if you’re into writing), and probably already have an opinion about him. Me? I like him. He’s definitely the reason I decided to take the final dive into self-publishing. I won’t go into all my reasons here, but the short version would be: J.A. Konrath pointed out that there’s no shame in self publishing if you take the time to do things right.

And I’m glad he did. He’s also fun to read, but you can find that out for yourself. :)

Liliy is an Author #2

Today’s post is brought to you by “Exact Change.” Why? Because I paid for my Taco Bell lunch with it today, and I honestly can’t remember the last time I paid with exact change for…anything. It was quite satisfying, even if I had to dig out four pennies.

NaNoWriMo/Nonnative Ice

Trying to break through the 30k mark–I’m at 28,100 and coming along slowly. The novel’s hit that point to where it’s become a chore, and while killing someone off got me another 2,000 words, it’s slowing down again. Ah well, I suppose I’ll keep on truckin’ and get those words in…and see what shows up at the end. I might be able to save half of it. Hopefully.

Children of Hephaestus

So, finally sucked it up and decided to start following some common advice I’ve seen around the writer’s blog & spheres: I printed a copy of the book on paper, and am currently reading it out loud–with a pen in my hand.

It…is surprisingly effective. It’s sort of like that mirror trick in art–flip your canvas horizontally and suddenly all of those anatomy mistakes are glaringly obvious where you had overlooked them before–it makes sense in your head but you don’t quite believe it.

Until it works. I throw my hands up and admit it: Reading aloud, on a different medium–it works.

It’s just slow. I’ve spent about an hour a chapter, and I’m only on the third one in the book. Very time consuming, but the effort should prove to be worth it.

Children of Hephaestus 2: Jupiter

Title still pending–and the word count is actually somewhere around 6,000 as of last night. I overestimated on the last post (which has since been corrected). I’m really excited about this one–I’ve already had some discussions with my editor to help keep continuity straight with the first book, and I’ve established my second plot thread.

My goal is to have the bulk of this book written by the time it’s predecessor goes into print, and now that I’m no longer ripping my hair out for the background plot, I think things are going to go much more smoothly.

Author Blog

I’ve decided if I don’t have a tool to share–I’ll share an author’s blog I’ve been reading! :D First up:

Jody Hedlund. I’ve been following Ms. Hedlund on Twitter for a while now, and enjoying her blog quite a bit. She updates regularly and usually has some good, quick advice for the aspiring writer. I also got a chance to read The Preacher’s Bride by her, and it was pretty good. So, check her out if you’ve got a moment. :D

Liliy is an Author #1

So, while I was waiting for lunch to arrive today, as I worked on my lovely CAD drawings (while listening to the Portal 2 soundtrack–this is important as the music is amazing~), contemplating yet again why Architectural and MEP firms seem to despise each other and take it out on each other via transmitted drawing files we must share, I realized that, despite a recent change in attitude to take my writing more seriously, I need to be held more accountable before I fall into old habits, and my inner writing fire dwindles down to cinders.

If you know me personally you know that I have a difficult time…finishing things (the four or five last novel attempts that are sitting unfinished on my hard drive and the latch hook rug with everything finished but the last three lines can attest). One of the reasons my online comic WaM has done so well (four years of regular tri-weekly updates!) is that people comment every day and well–fans get angry when you don’t deliver. I have a set deadline come hell or high water, good or bad, three times a week or I stand to lose a chunk of my audience.

Books, don’t work like this–it can take months to write the first draft, and years to finish editing. So, while I could go serial and post it chapter by chapter (like I do when I write fanfiction) for the instant gratification, there’s a lack of quality and that complete picture that I want. With WaM, it’s fine if I make things up as I go along–it’s fun–but you tend to lack the joy of an early set-up or that little clue that leads to a smack-in-the-face-realization later that just creates that ‘awe’ moment (you know the one) that makes you go back and re-read to see all the clues you missed the first time.

(Sort of like when you finish watching FLCL and realize just how much work went into that crazy series & watch it another six times to get it.)

So, like my “Liliy is a Fangirl” segments (that I started to force regular updating to this blog), I’ve decided to start posting on Tuesday’s during my lunch break to give a status update to what I’ve worked on, what I’m planning, and just list some fun author-related things. It’ll be a nice way to watch my progress and to remind me that if I don’t get off my tail and start working, I won’t have anything to post about–and that just won’t do.

As for why I’m calling the segment “Liliy is an Author”: it gives some uniformity to “Liliy is a Fangirl” –that’s why. :D

Without further ado – let’s get started with Liliy is a Fangirl #1!

NaNoWriMo/Nonnative Ice

I owe a lot to NaNoWriMo–if not for participating last year, I wouldn’t have a finished draft for the first time in my life. Naturally, I decided to participate again this year!

As of right now I’m almost 15,000 words into my first dive into Sci-Fi, “Nonnative Ice.” And honestly–the book’s a bit of a train wreck. This was my first attempt at outlining a novel before I started – characters, settings, plot…all that good stuff. By the second chapter the book decided that wasn’t good enough and quite literally threw the outline out the window. Currently, I’m modifying my outline as I go to hopefully keep things on track to finish the draft by December–even if it is a bit everywhere drawing from two separate story lines at the moment.

Not to say it’s not salvageable, but I still have quite a way to go before taking the red pen to paper and reworking it.

Children of Hephaestus

I’ve been working on this since NaNoWriMo 2010 & if you follow my Twitter or see me on Ustream, you know that the first draft mark-ups from my (read: amazing) editor are complete. (Insert: Yay!).

So, it’s on hold while I work on NaNoWriMo to give me a good chance to clear my head before I take one last look at the draft. As soon as that’s completed, I can declare it a proper Draft 2 and return it to my lovely Editor.

But the true reason it’s on hold is that I’m in the market for a good b&w laser printer, so I can start looking at some of this stuff on paper. Hopefully I will own one before November is out so I can get crackin’ and print that bad boy out.

Children of Hephaestus 2

I figured out sometime at the end of book one, that I want CoH to be a series. There’s just too much I want to get in that won’t fit in a single book (it could, but then we’d have something the length of IT and I’m not sure that’s wise for a first novel…). If all works out, there should be 3-4 books connected, but (more or less) self-contained novels.

The second book, which I’m about 10,000 4,000 [Edit: Sorry! I way overestimated how many words I had written. Heh.] words in (I started it just before NaNo, so it got put on hold for a bit), is turning out nicely. I have an outline set that works its way into a third book, and a good grasp on my new protagonist. The goal is to have the first draft done by the time Children of Hephaestus goes into print (yes, self-publishing–we’ll cover that another day) so there isn’t too much time between books.

The title is currently pending, but I’m thinking of “Jupiter Rising” or “Logan’s Jupiter.”

Featured Tool

Scrivener. I can not even begin to express how much I love this writing software. It’s organized, it breaks the writing up into manageable chunks, and it syncs with Dropbox so I can work on it no matter where I am.

I love it so much, I want to buy a lap top so I can keep Scrivener with me wherever I write–I’m looking at you saving-up-for-Christmas money.

But, there are plenty of people out there with blogs and the like praising Scrivener, you don’t need me to go into details. But I will recommend it 100% and it’s worth every single penny you pay for it.